2218 7. 8 7. 8 7
EARTH was waiting, spent and restless,
   With a mingled hope and fear;
And the faithful few were sighing,
    ‘Surely, Lord, the day is near;
The Desire of all the nations,
    It is time He should appear.’
 
2  In the sacred courts of Zion,
    Where the Lord had His abode,
There the money-changers trafficked,
    And the sheep and oxen trod;
And the world by earthly wisdom
    Knew not either Lord or God.
 
3  Then the Spirit of the Highest
    On a virgin meek came down,
And He burdened her with blessing,
    And He pained her with renown;
For she bare the Lord’s Anointed,
    For His cross and for His crown.
 
4  Earth for Him had groaned and travailed
    Since the ages first began;
For in Him was hid the secret
    That through all the ages ran—
Son of Promise, Son of David,
    Son of God, and Son of Man.
 
William Chalmers Smith, 1824-1908